DCF commissioner steps down on heels of child death reports

Tuesday

Apr 29, 2014 at 2:40 PMApr 29, 2014 at 2:40 PM

By Matt MurphyState House News Service

A clearly frustrated Gov. Deval Patrick accepted the resignation of Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche on Tuesday morning in the wake of new evidence suggesting systematic failures in her agency may have jeopardized the safety of two more children.Patrick, who stood by Roche throughout the firestorm over the death of one toddler under DFCís watch, insisted that the long-time social worker was capable of doing the job, but had lost the trust of the public and some of her staff, creating an impediment to the agency reforming itself and moving forward from a series of tragic events."I believe that before we find fault there ought to be a fair opportunity to gather the facts and assess accountability, that there ought to be some direct connection between failure and fault. Unfortunately, DCF doesnít operate in that kind of environment today," Patrick said.He continued, "Itís clear from the events of this weekend that she can no longer command the trust of the public or the confidence of her line staff.">>> For editable and embeddable video and audio of Patrickís press conference, go to: http://www.statehousenews.com/video/14-04-29gov/For a gallery of publishable photos of Patrick, Polanowicz and Interim Commissioner Erin Deveney at the event, go to http://www.statehousenews.com/gsp/default.aspx?aid=1959 Patrick turned to Erin Deveney to lead the agency out of turmoil during a transition period as his administration seeks a permanent replacement - the governor has eight months left on his term. As a longtime state transportation official who is new to the child welfare department, the governor said Deveney has the management experience in large state bureaucracies to effectively lead DCF, and would be considered for the full-time job.Asked about her lack of social work experience, Patrick said, "We had that."Both Patrick and Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz admitted it could be difficult to find a permanent replacement for Roche given the short time left for the administration. Deveney arrived at DCF on March 31 as deputy commissioner of operations in the Central Office from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, where she most recently worked as chief of staff.Some lawmakers have for weeks called for Roche to resign, but her departure came less than 24 hours after House Speaker Robert DeLeo emphatically called for her removal, touching off a wave of similar demands that Patrick fire the commissioner after two new infant deaths were linked over the weekend to failures of the department.One-month-old Aliana Lavigne was found dead in a Grafton apartment earlier this month, two days after social workers found a week-old fax from Grafton police that officials said had been misplaced, delaying an investigation into possible abuse or neglect. Another infant - two-week old Bailey Irish - died on Saturday after her family missed a scheduled DCF visit the day before."Installing new leadership at the Department of Children and Families is only the first step. DCF is an agency in crisis; and we must immediately undertake the difficult, but crucial task of creating an effective structure of protection and care for our most vulnerable children," DeLeo said in a statement Tuesday, extending his "deepest sympathies" to those who "knew and loved" Lavigne, Irish and Jeremiah Oliver, whose body was found on the side of a highway in Sterling earlier this month.Senate President Therese Murray, who joined DeLeo on Monday in calling for Rocheís resignation, said she didnít believe all the problems at the agency were "necessarily her fault," but said, "Itís just gotten away from her.""Thereís got be a complete change from top to bottom," Murray said.The Plymouth Democrat said she doesnít know Deveney. "I hope she has good management skills and sheís able to get both the employees and middle management on board to these changes. Itís unacceptable to lose any child but to lose three children in a short period of time is just heartbreaking," Murray said.Patrick called it a "very, very high risk move to change out leadership" while the agency is undergoing so many changes in staff and policy, including hiring additional social workers and implementing mobile technology to improve the efficiency and flexibility of social workers to do their jobs."I think the time for the change is now. I donít think the time is right, but I think itís necessary," he said.Roche has 33 years of experience in social work, and was appointed permanent commissioner of DCF last October after serving in an interim capacity since April 2013.The governor had pointed criticism for the Grafton Police Department, who he said failed in their obligation under state law to follow up its fax with a phone call to DCF to relay concerns about Lavigneís safety.Patrick also said the 100-day action plan that House Post Audit Committee Chairman David Linsky accused the department Monday of failing to produce had never been requested.Rep. Linsky, a Natick Democrat, told the News Service he met with Roche on March 6 requesting the plan and said she agreed to provide it. According to Linsky, a similar meeting occurred Feb. 27 in his office with Patrick chief of staff Brendan Ryan and deputy chief of staff for government affairs Rosemary Powers where he made a similar request."We were assured we were going to get it, and we never did," Linsky said. "For me this illustrates that the governor is somewhat disconnected from other parts of his administration."SEIU Local 509 spokesman Jason Stephany said Rocheís departure creates a "critical opportunity to institute the reforms and investments we need to get the job done." Despite the Legislatureís efforts to increase funding for DCF to hire additional caseworkers and begin equipping social workers with mobile technology, Stephany said,"At DCF, we face a caseload crisis that worsens each day. Policy changes and accountability measures are desperately needed. Communication barriers and outdated technology continue to slow our efforts in the field."House and Senate leaders have committed to providing additional financial resources to the agency in the fiscal 2015 budget, which is currently being debated this week in the House.House Minority Leader Bradley Jones called it welcome news that Roche resigned, but added that he thinks the ultimate responsibility lies with the governor. Patrick should be asking for daily updates on what is happening at the agency to improve performance, Jones said."I think the governor should have been more hands on from day one," Jones said.Jones criticized Patrick for traveling out of state to promote the state instead of handling the daily "nitty-gritty" of running state government, and pointed to other problems that have plagued the administration such as oversight of a Framingham compounding pharmacy, and the state drug lab."I think quite frankly the governor is becoming much more absentee, and checking out. I think we need a chief executive who wants to be hands on. Heís going to have to make the commitment to be hands on and to really focus on getting this agency ready," Jones said.Patrickís comments Tuesday morning underscored his feeling that Roche has at times been scapegoated for the failures of department in a rush to judgment to lay blame regardless of the facts of the cases that have generated tragic headlines in recent weeks."Someone in that agency read that fax and didnít deal with it and that is a serious concern. We have to figure out who that is," Patrick said, noting that critics still responded by calling for Roche to be fired. Polanowicz said the administration has already made changes to the 51A child welfare report forms to more clearly indicate that phone calls should be made in addition to a faxed report, and providing the appropriate telephone numbers.Linsky said he and the speaker did not come to the decision to publicly call for Rocheís removal lightly."For months and months, both the speaker and I resisted the call to call for her resignation. I didnít want to go there because I was more concerned, and I still am more concerned, about fixing the systemic problems at DCF and making sure that new systems are in place to protect children and strengthen families," Linsky said. "It just got to a point though with the events of this past weekend, I felt more children were being endangered unless a change were made over there, and thatís sad."Deveney thanked the governor for the opportunity to lead DCF."I will ensure that the agencyís top priority continues to be ensuring and protecting the children in the Commonwealth. We must not waiver in that obligation," Deveney said.Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr released a statement saying Rocheís removal alone will not fix the problems at DCF."The resignation of Commissioner Roche is an important and necessary step in reforming the Department of Children and Families, but itís not the only step that needs to be taken," Tarr said in a statement. "DCF has systemic failures, and they demand sweeping reform to protect some of our state's most vulnerable children and families. Responsible caseloads, accountability at every level, a focus on the best interest of the child, and timely actions need to be part of the fabric of this agency."